I think Rummenigge proposed the same recently. I kinda agree. It's just stupid that there is no Bundesliga football during 10 weeks where we have the best weather.
I had to use a translator to read the article, this is something I don't understand. Can someone clear this up for me? "Another change in the German football is much closer: The German Football Association wants to abolish the double punishment by a red map plus 11-meter. The federation has put a suitable application with the Fifa. With an emergency brake in the penal space the red map should remain, for example, then to the sinner saved. The clear chance is returned by the 11-meter to the team of the fouled, German Football Association referee's coordinator Lutz Michael Fröhlich argued in the ZDF."
Well until now, if you foul an opponent in the penalty area and also while being the last player in front of the GK, FIFA rules say that this is a "prevention of a clear goal scoring opportunity" and has to penalized with both a red card and a penalty shot. Some people in Germany want to alter the red card to a yellow card because shot they think a penalty is already punishment enough.
I get it now, thank you. I think I like that idea, i hate seeing 10 v 11, it tends to make the game much more defensive on one side.
I think it should depend on the situation. If the player prevented an almost certain goal, and not just a very good chance, it still should be a red card. Like if the goalie is already beaten and all the attacker would have to do is put the ball into the empty net, then a red card is warranted. Similar situation is stopping the ball on the goal-line with your hand, another definite red card as well. Now if there is another defender close by or the chance to score from the spot the player was in wasn't all that big, a yellow might be enough.
Hitzelsperger interview he compares how english and german clubs deal with the pressure they are faced with when they are in the relegation zone.
Awesome. Very likable guy. How many modern footballers have read Philip Roth, listen to James Blake and are interested in economics? Awesome stuff!
There is no question that Hitz is generally a brighter and more aware person than most football players, but I think in this interviews he also jumps to conclusions quite a bit. His comparison between the catastrophic season in Stuttgart, where he had to meet the fans and the situation at Westham doesn't make much sense, for example. If you compare the relative standings and expectations of the two clubs in their respective leagues, the situation was very different in Stuttgart and I think Hitz knows that, deep in his heart. I also think it is extremely naive of him to just assume that the fans trust the players to do the right thing, because the players don't have to meet the fans, when things are going badly. I think the fans simply have more power in Germany; they are closer to the team and traditionally more influential. Of course the way it is handled in England is more convenient for him, but does he really think this reflects a more trusting relationship?
Moreover the fans own Stuttgart. Meeting them is more akin to meeting Abramovitch at Chelsea though its not quite the same. But just looking at the situation in Schalke at the moment, I'm not sure if the degree of influence the fans have is really that good. Various important fan clubs bemoan Magath's lack of communication and forever want a meeting with him, in fact they want regular meetings. Its not a common demand at other clubs but I still don't like the notion of it. There is nothing wrong with getting the fans involved or a meeting now and then if there is a dire need. But the fans shouldn't have any influence on the day to day business. There is a very ready distrust of the people in charge not just in football but in the whole of society which I really really don't like.
Of course but come on, he plays in England now. He had to be diplomatic. Anyways, he was fantastic today against Liverpool, bossed the game.
Good to hear that he played well, its nice to see himi back after his long injury. And of course i can understand his attempt at diplomacy, but he didn't have to go into detail just for being diplomatic. But if you go into detail you better not say anything wrong. @Homa: I think its not so bad that the fans have a little bit of influence, Schalke is an extreme case, where it may be detrimental to the success but normally it is not a problem and may even help the guys on the pitch and in the front office to keep perspective a bit. I also think that a certain degree of distrust towards the people in charge is quite healthy.
While I'm usually somewhat bewildered by the club politics at Schalke, in this case, I think the fans act perfectly reasonable. You just have to go 3 seasons back - CL quarters, league 3rd, buying big, then crashing and burning in CL qualification, UEFA Cup group stage, and most importantly the league, and subsequently getting into dire straits financially. Now Magath is spending relatively big again, and probably won't qualify for EL next year... and if the financial situation gets much worth, Schalkes existence might come into question. I think it's understandable that the owner takes a closer look than usual in that situation.
Yes, they might take a better look but for what? I mean Magath did dig a pretty big and completely unnecessary hole for himself in the summer. He did the right thing when the came to the club but blew all good will he earned last season. A meeting with the most important fan associations might help to rally support for him and calm everything down. On the other hand nobody would say a thing if we had 6-9 points more in the Bundesliga. Not that it is a small thing but it is somewhat dubious to doubt everything because you didn't win three more games in the league when you had at the same time a pretty good run in the cup competitions. Schalke's main problem in the last years was a lack of patience and a lack of trust into the front office (mainly into Müller and Slomka). Again this years record and playing style doesn't induce trust but there aren't a lot of managers in German football you get a better bet for success than Magath. Its not as if he assembled a team of talentless hacks. Well, its not a Schalke thread and the club is pretty wild in that regard even for the Bundesliga. But seeing how often Bremen (and f.e. Freiburg) mentions that the calmness and stability in the club and its environment are an important factor in its success, I can't help if a quieter and more professional approach isn't beneficial. I can't even imagine how it is coming to work in front of a couple of hundred spectators every day as it is in Schalke with the training. Just thinking about it makes me shudder.
I get what you mean, but i think that calmness as a factor of success is not as important as Bremen or Freiburg make it seem. It surely can't hurt, when the team can work in peace, but there are a lot of clubs that are never really calm, yet still very succesful, Bayern for example. Schalke is a special case since Magath really fu*ked up the relationship to the fans himself, which was unneccessary because he had them eating out of his hand after his impressive first season. Also the fans seem to be even more powerful at Schalke. But you said all of this already. I agree with what you said about their lack of patience, i especially remember that Slomka didn't get the time he deserved, he did a pretty good job back then, for the most part. Slomka never seems to get the credit he deserves somehow...
Cracking coaching's final frontier http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9421702.stm Has a bit about Tuchel in there.
Interestingly looking at history, the left back position has never caused much problems in the past, there have always been class players available for that position (Ernst Juskowiak, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, Paul Breitner, Bernard Dietz, Hans-Peter Briegel, Andreas Brehme, the young Christian Ziege).
He has 2-3 years where he was a damn good player...btween 1996-1999. I thought he was one of the players that did not improve during his Serie A time with Fiorentina. He kinda just regressed from there.